Grumpy old men still sit-com staple

If living well is the best revenge, then women get theirs in the end. Not only do they tend to live longer than men but on television, at least, they seem to have a richer and more rewarding old age.

That’s what Ed Asner’s return to television comedy suggests. This 81-year-old actor, who played the irascible but endearing Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” is back on television as Hank Greziak, an irascible but endearing neighbor on a new but creaky sitcom on CMT, “Working Class,” which airs at 8 p.m. Fridays.

It seems unfair to conclude that Asner’s acting talents are so limited he can only play the same character over and over. (Though he did play Lou Grant in a spinoff, “Lou Grant.”) It’s more likely that there is one phenotype for comic actors over 65: the irascible but endearing sidekick. Given how richly diverse and plentiful television comedy has become, it’s remarkable how narrow the niche remains for men in their sunset years.

Older women have come such a long way since Aunt Bee on “The Andy Griffith Show.” Older men still seem stuck in the persona of Mr. Wilson on “Dennis the Menace.”

This season William Shatner plays an irascible but endearing dad of grown children on “$#*! My Dad Says,” on CBS. On TV Land, George Segal plays an irascible but endearing dad of grown children on “Retired at 35.”

One notable exception is Ed O’Neill as Jay, the irascible but endearing father on ABC’s “Modern Family.” While Jay is predictably gruff and flinty, the writers have given him more texture and dimension than most, which is just one reason “Modern Family” is at the moment the best network sitcom.

Women of the same certain age fare better. Betty White’s roles keep evolving from the days when she played naughty Sue Ann Nivens on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” She was a sweet, naive retiree on “The Golden Girls.” At the moment she plays a pot-smoking Polish caretaker on “Hot in Cleveland.” Holland Taylor is very funny on “Two and a Half Men” as Evelyn, a classy but promiscuous real-estate broker who intimidates and emasculates her grown sons. (Shopping for Evelyn’s birthday, one of them asks the saleswoman if she carries Chanel No. 666.)

Cloris Leachman rather bravely plays a senile grandmother on “Raising Hope.” Swoosie Kurtz plays Molly’s tippling, sexually adventurous mother on “Mike & Molly.” And Christine Baranski makes the most of a small part on “The Big Bang Theory,” playing Leonard’s mother, an icy neuroscientist and psychiatrist.

Their male counterparts are stuck in roles that are unvaried variations on Archie Bunker, Frank Barone of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” or either of the cranky dads that Jerry Stiller played on “Seinfeld” and “The King of Queens.”